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Barcelona settle for a draw against lowly Espanyol in Catalan Derby

By Ernesto Hernandez

Espanyol players celebrate their second goal during the Spanish league football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at the RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 4, 2020. (Photo by Pau BARRENA CAPILLA / AFP) (Photo by PAU BARRENA CAPILLA/AFP via Getty Images)
Espanyol players celebrate their second goal during the Spanish league football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at the RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 4, 2020. (Photo by Pau BARRENA CAPILLA / AFP) (Photo by PAU BARRENA CAPILLA/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Barcelona can only muster a draw in Catalan Derby that pitted top against bottom.

Goals by Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal were canceled out by David Lopez and Wu Lei as Espanyol salvaged a draw against a poor Barcelona.

It was yet another poor performance by a Barcelona side who simply cannot muster any sort of consistency on the road.

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The first-half saw Espanyol pull ahead with a Barça attack unable to create any danger. The team improved with the introduction of Arturo Vidal in the second-half but it wasn’t enough.

One of the turning points in the game was Frenkie de Jong getting sent off late in the second-half. Down to 10 men, Ernesto Valverde decided to take off Antoine Griezmann for Nelson Semedo and slotting Sergi Roberto midfield.

Interestingly enough, Espanyol’s equalizer came on the left side where the Frenchman would have been covering.

Far too often we’ve seen Barcelona struggle against opponents they should be able to beat. It’s made worse in this instance because it was against the last place team in the table.

Not only did they drop two points against their bitter rivals, they’ve now also allowed Real Madrid to get back into the title race.

More than enough has been said and written about how this team looks under the leadership of Valverde. They often look too disjointed and dependent on what Lionel Messi can do.

Luis Suarez, who had a goal and an assist, missed two opportunities to score the third goal and put the game out of reach. He failed to do so and allowed the opponent back into the game. Similar to what happened against Real Sociedad.

With how fragile the Catalans look away from home, a lot is going to have to change if they hope to lift any kind of silverware. But that’s the issue, things don’t look likely to change.

The starting line-up is arguably the best they have to offer which leaves no one on the bench who can be a difference maker. Add in Valverde’s timidness to take off any of the big-name players, what you see is what you get with Barcelona.

The red card picked up by De Jong now means they’ll be without the Dutchman and Arthur for their next league match. With Carles Aleña now at Betis, expect a midfield of Vidal, Busquets and Rakitic. None of those three are under the age of 30.

It’s an old Barcelona team and with the conservative approach by Valverde, these types of results are going to continue.

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This is not how they wanted to start coming off the break. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the club’s chances going forward. Especially with their humiliating exits from the Champions League the past two seasons.